Clonebrews: Recipes for 200 Brand-Name Beers

by Tess Szamatulski, Mark Szamatulski

Brewing home versions of popular commercial beers has never been simpler or more fun than it is with the 200 recipes in CloneBrews. Home brewers will find everything they need to brew up a batch of their own clone of Magic Hat #9, Ithaca Brown Ale, Moose Drool, or Samuel Adams Boston Ale. And with 200 possibilities to choose from, home brewers will find the perfect taste for every mood and every season.

Revised, updated, and expanded, the second edition of CloneBrews contains 50 new recipes that reflect the current popularity of strongly hopped India pale ales and American pale ales as well as the growing interest in brown ales, imperial beers, English bitters, porters, stouts, wheat beers, and Belgian ales. The new edition also contains expanded and updated mashing guidelines and a complete review of ingredients and materials. All new to the second edition is a Food Pairing feature that recommends the best foods for every beer an indispensable feature for the brewer who also loves to barbecue or cook!

Tested and retested, tasted and retasted, Tess and Mark Szamatulskis recipes are the product of 20 years spent running a successful homebrew supply shop and working with customers to create perfect beer clones. They deliver the flavors that home brewers want, described in clear recipes that every brewer will want to make.

Genres: Beer, Brewing, Nonfiction, Cookbooks, Cooking, How To, Reference

439 pages, Paperback

First published January 10, 1998

Reviews

[Ramon van Dam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite dry, but it delivers on its promise. The book features a huge collection of clone recipes, though I have my doubts on some of them. I've added a lot to my own recipe database though, definitely worth a read.

[Michael Broggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great resource for intermediate brewers, with lots of recipes and tips throughout.

[Adam Best · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear easy to understand recipes. I really enjoy the Belgian Easter bunny beer.

[Dan Hyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good reference book.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not an introduction to brewing, but a great recipe collection for when you are ready to start playing with flavors. It's great to have the "base" of a known beer, then you can tweak them to your taste. Things like "I want to make a smoked porter, but with more hops". Perfect if you've only used kits and are ready to do your own ingredients.

The beers are mostly European, some mass market American with a few microbrews thrown in (including Dogfish Head's 60 minute IPA). There are more recent clone recipe books out there (but this is the one that was at the library), but these recipes are just fine for what I was looking for.

I will admit to not actually trying any of the recipes (it's currently too hot to brew, learned that lesson the hard way... see reference to "smoked porter" above). However, I do think this has inspired me enough to give homebrewing an other shot (or rather pint).

[PJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Charlie Papazian homebrewing book is essential for every homebrewer, and when you are ready to move on in search of more recipes, this is a good place to go. Shows you how to brew 150 popular and delicious beers (I have a Duvel clone heading into the bottles today); and extract, partial mash, and all-grain recipes are provided for every beer.

Possibly deserving of more stars, but there are many resources for beer recipes these days, and many of them are free.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brewed two recipes out of this book so far and they have been amazing thus far. The Scotch Silly Ale came out as probably my best so far. I'm in the midst of bottling the Maple Wheat Ale, and it may very well surpass the Scotch as my best so far. The smell, color, and taste are amazing - even flat. Definitely recommend this book for those looking to further their understanding of grains and hops in composing their own recipes.

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good (albeit somewhat short) discussion of what makes a clone brew, and how to go about formulating your own. Then a bunch of clone recipes that feature extract, mini-mash, and all-grain methods. And a few very recognizable names in here (Westmalle Tripel, J.W. Lees Harvest Ale, Fuller's ESB, &c.) Quite a few lagers, more than I'd like, but hey that's cool. A good book for inspiration while devising your own recipes, but I don't know that it would be a go-to.

[Fred · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted something that was a bit more current than this.
It was written in 1998 prior to the American Craft Beer Revolution, therefore it focuses mainly on international recipes.
Not an entirely bad thing, because there are at least 12-15 outstanding beers represented, it's just that I wanted recipes for beers that didn't exist when this book was written.

[Christoph Weber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wer wollte nicht sein Lieblingsbier mal selber brauen? Mit diesem Buch sollte man es hinbekommen.

Nein, ich habe nicht jedes Rezept durchgelesen und auch nicht gebraut. Die generellen Anleitungen zu Beginn sind kurz und präzise, die Prämisse spannend. Und die Sammlung an Rezepten ist umfangreich und gut gemacht.

[Ryan Sestric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Admittedly, I haven't read EVERY page, but it's a recipe book. There are SO many beers they clone. I'm currently working on one (finally as my beer queue is massive), and in totally excited! Lots of grew ideas, easily laid out for the home brewer!

[Manuel Romero Fariña · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelente

Excelente compilación de clones de cervezas fácil de leer inclusive para una persona que habla un ingles básico. Todavía no probé hacer ninguno de los clones pero en breve lo estaré haciendo

[Rod · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some interesting info. So far I've done 3 recipes, none of them near the commercial equivalent. There are a couple more to I want to try so I may update this depending on how they turn out.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being as I have not tried the recipes, I don't know how close the recipes actually come to "clones", but five stars for the variety of the recipes and the clear descriptions and instructions.

[Michael W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book, It gave extract methods and all grain/partial grain recipes for each. Invaluable as a beginner/intermediate brewer.

[Roger Sheehy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great reference book, and I have enjoyed using and tweaking many of the recipes in here.

[Friedrich Haas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have not found the beer I want to clone most, but some interesting choices nonetheless.

[Sagely · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, accessibly-present recipes for great beer. Need to add a permanent copy to my brew shelf.

[Michael Eagle · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of the best book to have if you love beer and love making it

[Ronald Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beyond cloning beers, this is a good book to find basic recipes to experiment from.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some very decent and accurate recipes, great for the homebrewer who is stepping beyond the basics.

[Keith Grice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fab book with a fantastic range of quality recipes.